


dusty old earth tradition

by orphan_account



Category: Gods Will Be Watching
Genre: M/M, a metric ton of fluff dont look at me, xenolifer crew bein bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6140539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is kinda nice, with the red bows and all. Makes me happy looking at it. We can put this on the inside of the door to the living quarters so everyone sees it and knows they're about to be blown away with Chrismis spirit."</p><p>"Christmas," Burden corrects quietly.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, same thing."</p>
            </blockquote>





	dusty old earth tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ugly Sweaters](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521019) by [testifytime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/testifytime/pseuds/testifytime). 



2254 CFD

December 26

2100hrs

* * *

 

The Matriarch's many windows are covered with deep red drapery—except, of course, the pilot's. It’s an irresponsible gesture, but space is _really goddamn big_ , and nobody should have to feel small on Christmas _._  Liam explains this to the crew members gathered in the meeting room.

"Chris- uh… Gods bless you?" Jack tries.

"Oh no." Liam gasps theatrically, with an intense enough double-take that his blond hair bounces along. " _Oh no._ You poor thing.” He casts a glance around the room. “Please don't tell me none of you ever celebrated Christmas?"

Wouter pipes up from behind a circuit board he's tinkering with. "I think this is true for many of us… all we know about Christmas is from last year," he adjusts his slipping glasses, "when you frightened the new arrivals half to death with those exploding blood…balloon…things."

"I'll say." Burden claps a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Thank the gods we caught on and took them down before Eddie got up. What a first week."

"Wh- I mean-" Liam splutters, genuinely dismayed. "I knew you couldn't all have been from Earth, but-!"

"KOI-3010.01. Born and raised." Frank shrugs apologetically, though he and Claire are holding back laughter.

"Gliese 667 Cc." Ford croaks from a corner of the room. Wouter grins lopsidedly, eyes still on the circuit board.

Shaman, otherworldly presence that he is, only affords Liam an amused look.

"Kepler-438b. Colloquially known as 'hell'." Burden finishes, giving Jack a sidelong wink. He quickly backtracks when Liam looks ready to cry. "Kidding! I'm kidding. I'm from Earth."

"Regardless," Liam sniffs after a short pause, "I think you all could use a refresher. Or, I suppose, an intro."

He sits everyone down around the conference table (except for Ford, who hovers). "So tonight is what's called Christmas Eve. Normally, you'd have a big tree up in the living room. It has to be sturdy, because you're tying your family's presents to it for them to find on the morning of the 27th."

Jack snorts. Liam stares daggers at him.

"So, trees and presents aside, the main components of a successful Christmas are decorations, terrible sweaters, and… friends."

Wouter looks up from the notes he's taking on Liam's speech. 

Liam beams like he's revealed the punchline to a really good joke. "Aside from Frank and Claire nobody here has a family to celebrate with, so… yeah. Friends.  Someone to crack a beer with and feel like you belong. It's a dusty old Earth tradition, but one of my favorites."

He plays contemplatively with a strand of hair, finally standing before the group and dividing tasks like this were a real mission. As far as he's concerned, it is. "Unfortunately it might be a little late for sweaters, but let's have some volunteers team up and decorate the place—Maslow, Burden, would you do the honors?"

Burden smiles. "Is that an order?"

Jack shoves him, reduced to a resigned sigh when Liam smugly nods 'yes'.

 

* * *

 

"OK, sarge, got any festive expertise you wanna share with me?" Jack grumbles, eyeballing the boxes of decorations stacked in a corner of the room.

"You know my first memories are of landing on Legin, Jack. For all I know I'm from KO-whatever like Frank and Claire. I just didn't want Liam to blow a fuse."

"Well, aren't we up shit creek. Let's start by taking inventory then." Jack gestures toward the boxes. "We'll unpack them and see what we get."

"Aye aye." Burden gives a mock salute. Jack rolls his eyes.

The boxes yield, mostly, some sort of fluffy rope in a disparity of colors. Soft silvers, whites and rosy golds litter the floor before long. A small, tightly closed box is marked "Best ones (!!!)" and is filled with ornaments in toxic green and deep cherry red hues. Jack thinks the red can be worked in with the silver and gold if they don't overdo it, but confesses that he'd really prefer to toss all that green shit out the airlock.

There are scores of baubles and little strings with tiny inlaid lights—these are antiques, the pair realize, when Burden finds a great circular leafy contraption dated 2075. Although it is green, Jack takes a shine to the thing.

"This is kinda nice, with the red bows and all. Makes me happy looking at it. We can put this on the inside of the door to the living quarters so everyone sees it and knows they're about to be blown away with Chrismis spirit."

"Christmas," Burden corrects quietly.

"Yeah, yeah, same thing." Jack picks up a bundle each of silver and white rope stuff. "OK, game plan. You're gonna take these and some of those little lights and make it look all magical in the west wing, right, so people come out and think 'holy shit it's Christmas'."

Burden nods solemnly, hoping he's not going at all red. Trust Jack to take their task in stride and refuse to half-ass it. "And- and you?"

"I'm gonna take a little of everything, except that green Gods forbid, and make sort of a gradient leading up to the room with the fireplace on the east side of the ship. It'll have some silver near the middle and I'll dot it with lights, but way in the east corridor will be all soft, gold and white and some red for a straight fuckin' _showstopper_."

"Yeah." Burden breathes, then quickly clears his throat. "Uh, I'm on it."

The two begin work just past midnight. Liam has ushered everyone into bed to let the decorators work; the ship is theirs.

Burden's is the delicate task of noiselessly hanging the leafy circle thing on the inside of the door to the living quarters, which is as far in as he can get without waking anyone. Leaving a few fairy lights around the door for good measure, he continues on, carefully wrapping the rope stuff along hallways and corners, even checking in with Jack a few times to make sure he's doing it right. What glimpses he catches of Jack's handiwork are breathtaking.

Fully engrossed in his work, Burden yelps in surprise when Jack's hand brushes his. "Gods, you scared me."

“Looks like we met in the middle.” Jack gives him a big, proud smile. Burden briefly feels lightheaded. 

"So I figure, since it's four in the morning and I know I'm not getting a lot of sleep in, what do you say we go around again and put up some of that other nonsense? The little bells and statues and whatever?"

 Burden agrees. It's another two hours of work, but there's a lot of fun in watching Jack rile himself up.

The crew gets up at seven; not a minute too soon. There's an audible gasp from inside the living quarters and Liam pushes aside the door to see Jack and Burden admiring their work one final time. 

In no time at all the whole crew is out in the hall, observing the ornaments with disbelieving (and in Eddie's case, sleepy) eyes.

"You haven't even seen the best of it." says Burden boldly, marching ahead to the east wing where Jack was working.

Shaman gives a low whistle, Eddie claps his hands and giggles from his perch in Claire's arms, but Liam in particular has no end of praise to shower on the two as they walk.

"I love the color palette! The way it's been getting warmer from here to the east wing, Gods, it's almost like I'm a little kid again."

"Almost?" says Shaman incredulously. "You're about having a fit over some pretty lights."

"The prettiest." Liam huffs. "Don't pretend you're not loving this."

Burden comes to a halt outside the door to the fireplace room. "I think Jack should take credit for his masterpiece."

"No, Burden, c'mon." Jack resists. Burden steps aside resolutely. "Gods. Fine."

Jack presses the button for the double doors to slide open, revealing the interior of the fireplace room. The crew gasps collectively—the place is surreal.

Floating lights flit around the room like fireflies. The walls are lined with white and gold and even some silver in the edges. Deep red accents have been placed methodically around the fireplace in the center of the room, with a very old-looking red garland strung just over the fire itself. It reads MERRY CHRISTMAS! in peeling letters.

 Liam shakes his head. "Goddamn."

"Don’t curse in front of Eddie!" Claire looks down to find Eddie is fast asleep and drops her case. "Goddamn indeed." she agrees in a low voice.

The group turn their attention towards Jack, who's flicking silently at the floating lights and going redder by the second.

"A diamond in the rough, our Jack." says Frank warmly.

"'S beautiful." creaks Ford. 

Liam talks idly about a pay raise—how he’d offer Jack one if the crew were paid in the first place. Wouter wonders about the patterns used in the decor (Jack claims that he ‘just did whatever’). Shaman grunts, but in an impressed sort of way.

Eyes downcast, Jack glows with pride.

The group clears out after a few minutes, leaving Burden and Jack alone. Liam stands in the doorway for a moment, smiling slyly. "I notice there's mistletoe up in that corner you two're under. But I'm sure that wasn't at all intentional, right, Burden?" He mouths _go for it_ at the sergeant and leaves with a big, obvious wink.

A moment passes. Jack prods thoughtfully at the mistletoe.

 "What was that all about?"

 

**Author's Note:**

> i really don't know what has me so taken with this game and with these two....... more is probably on the way :') so help me, im gonna populate this tag singlehandedly!!!
> 
> Goodthingscomeinboxestoo was both my beta and the author of the fic that inspired this, check their stuff out im heart eyes about it (♥ ͜♥)


End file.
